New UK companies in September 2026: 68,638, and what they do

The short answer: 68,638 new companies were registered in the UK in September 2026, up from 58,404 in August. London had 25,127 of them, 37%. The biggest trade was online retail, with 5,783 new companies. Part of the rise on August is the calendar: September had 22 weekdays and August 21, including the bank holiday on 31 August.

We counted every company on the Companies House register whose incorporation date falls in September 2026, from the free Companies House snapshot of 1 October 2026. How we counted, and what that misses, is at the end.

Where the new companies are

Every region had more new companies than in August. By region of the registered office:

1. London: 25,127 (37%)
2. North West: 7,260
3. South East: 6,659
4. West Midlands: 5,353
5. East of England: 5,073
6. Yorkshire and the Humber: 4,195
7. Scotland: 3,634
8. South West: 3,428
9. East Midlands: 2,900
10. North East: 1,807
11. Wales: 1,793
12. Northern Ireland: 787

The North East rose most on August, by 25% (from 1,446), with the South West next at 24%. Northern Ireland rose least, by 6%, and Wales by 9%.

The cities with the most

By the post town of the registered office, London had 18,174. The region figure above is higher because it also counts the Greater London postcode areas that have their own post towns, such as Ilford and Harrow. After London:

1. Manchester: 1,743
2. Birmingham: 1,558
3. Glasgow: 1,004
4. Liverpool: 676
5. Leeds: 628
6. Leicester: 610
7. Bristol: 574
8. Edinburgh: 564
9. Nottingham: 541

Wolverhampton had 472, Sheffield 460, Bradford 459 and Coventry 409. Our new companies by UK city post has the twelve-month figures for 74 cities.

What they do

By the first SIC code each company gave, the largest groups were wholesale and retail (14,494, 21%), information and communication (8,252, 12%), professional, scientific and technical work (6,714, 10%), real estate (6,179, 9%), construction (5,791, 8%) and accommodation and food (4,953, 7%).

The ten codes with the most new companies:

1. Online retail, 47910: 5,783
2. Software development, 62012: 3,178
3. Management consultancy, 70229: 2,890
4. Buying and selling own property, 68100: 2,776
5. Letting own property, 68209: 2,593
6. Holding companies, 64209: 2,100
7. Takeaways and food stands, 56103: 1,521
8. IT consultancy, 62020: 1,380
9. Road freight, 49410: 1,167
10. Other software publishing, 58290: 1,127

What changed in a year

The snapshot holds only companies still on the register, so for September 2025 it counts the companies from that month that have not closed since. That makes last year's figures too low, never too high. Where this September is below them, the fall is certain. Where it is above them, the real rise is smaller than it looks.

• Property companies fell. 2,776 companies were set up to buy and sell their own property this September. 3,961 from September 2025 are still active, so new property companies were down by at least 29%. Companies letting their own property were down by at least 19% (2,593 against 3,206).
• Software rose. 3,178 software development companies were set up this September, against 1,865 from September 2025 still active. Some of last year's have closed, so the like-for-like rise is below 70%, but it is the largest rise among the 25 most common codes.
• The total was a little lower. 69,053 of September 2025's new companies are still active, more than this September's 68,638, and last September's real total was higher still.

What kind of company

66,085 of the 68,638 (96%) were private limited companies. There were also 899 community interest companies, 794 companies limited by guarantee and 258 limited liability partnerships.

If you sell to new companies

A company in its first year is choosing an accountant, a bank, insurance, a website and its suppliers for the first time. Selling to new companies at the right moment covers when each of those comes up.

Leadistry finds companies registered in the last 12 months in the trades and areas you sell to, each with a website and an email we checked, writes the first email and sends it from your own mailbox. A company registered this month rarely has a website or an email yet, so it reaches you once we have found and checked both, which usually takes months. See how it works for accountants and for insurance brokers, or how to find newly registered companies.

How we counted

• Source: the Companies House Basic Company Data snapshot of 1 October 2026, free under the Open Government Licence.
• Month: the incorporation date on the register. Companies registered on 30 September are included.
• Active only: a company registered in September and closed before 1 October is not counted. For a recent month that is a handful.
• Region: the postcode area of the registered office, mapped to the region holding the area's centre. The Greater London postcode areas count as London.
• Trade: the first SIC code on the company's record. A registered office is often an accountant's or a formation agent's address, not where the business trades.

The monthly figures for the last two years, by region and trade, are on our UK company formations tracker, now updated to the 1 October snapshot.